Unhappy Cat

I was trying to take some photos of the cats and dogs with a Christmas hat on so I could add to Christmas cards this year. Murphy did not like the idea and kept insisting he was a Halloween Cat rather than a Christmas cat.

Kasie

One of our cats, K.C. as my son named her, but I prefer to think of her as Kasie. I don't know why some people have a thing of naming people and pets with initials. I never made much since to me. My son has has K.C.(Kitty Cat) the cat, and D.D.(Dustins Dog) the dog, and now has another cat named O.C. (orange cat) and had a horse C.W (her registered name was Charging Walk). I watch bull riding and it seems half the riders go by their initials. J.W. Hart. J.B. Mooney, L.J. Jenkins. I have known lots of people that went by their initials or JR if they were a junior. And all the business that go my their initials. I think I'll try to stay away from that trend.

Arte

A better photo of Arte.

Murphy

Murphy admiring a couple of the last morning glories we had just before all my annuals froze. I already miss the new flowers that were waiting for me to see them each morning when I got up.

Tuffee

My border collie Tuffee at the back door.

Mystic Art

This my son's stallion Darkan's Mystic Art. He is half Arabian, and half Saddlebred, and all beautiful.

Tony Hillerman

It is a sad day. I just heard that Tony Hillerman died today. Tony Hillerman was another of my favorite authors. He was from Oklahoma originally but had lived in Albuquerque New Mexico for a very long time. He wrote mystery novels who's main characters were Navajo policeman on the Navajo Reservation. I believe that I have read all of his books and enjoyed every one.
We will miss Tony Hillerman and his books, and writings.

Tomatoes

It finally really froze and we had to pick all the tomatoes to keep them from freezing. Of course it got worm again afterward. But what to do with all those tomatoes, many of them are still green. You can only eat so many green fried tomatoes and tomato salads, and the neighbors will only take some many, too.
After spending several hours on the Internet looking at recipes I settled on a recipe for enchilada sauce. So I spent this morning finding and cleaning all my canning equipment that hasn't been used in about 5 years, and then I boiled the tomatoes just until they split for peeling. Next hubby, Lee, and I took turns using the old antique, cone-shaped juicer and wooden cone-shaped crusher for smashing the warm fruit until the juice and pulp were separated from the seeds, and pulp.
Now to add the chili power and other seasoning and let it slow cook in my slow cooker. If the sauce comes out I will add the recipe later.

Nevada Barr

Nevada Barr is one of my favorite authors. She writes the Anna Pigion mystries. All of the stories are set in a National Park, and she does the best of anyone I have ever read in describing the wonder of nature. This year she has a new mystry out entitled Winter Study. I haven't read it yet as I can't afford the hard back books and will have to wait for the paperback to come out. I read on her website that there will be a new one next spring called Borderline. I look forward to both of them. But for now I am enjoying the blog that she and her sister do. Give it a try at http://thorpunious.wordpress.com
the web site is www.nevadabarr.com

Non-Believers

I am so glad to get the comments from people who have had migraines. Sometimes it feels as if I am all alone in fighting with mine. And that no one else ever has one. I still know lots of people who had never had one, including lots of doctors, and they usually of the opinion that a migraine is just a headache. I don't think anyone can imagine what a migraine is like until they have had one.
My dad was that way. He thought that my mom and my sisters and I were faking it for sympathy and to get out of work until he had his first one in his late 60's and I had to take him to the hospital because of the migraine.
So to those of you who have had them. Yes, that one will pass but there will always be another one at another time.
To those who haven't ever had one. Count your blessing and prey you never do.

Journeys of Cactus Jack Splash

Found another blog that I like. Its the Journeys of Cactus Jack Splash. A nice appaloosa horse. Give his blog a try. The link is on my list.

My Problems

When I re-read the last post I started to remove it from my blog. But I decided not to. I have never mentioned these problems before on my blog. I have kept most of my medical problems hid from strangers all my life. But it is time to let everyone know I have these problems. A lot of people don't beleive me and that includes most doctors. If you don't want to beleive me thats fine. I'm used to it. Those of you that have these problems will. And I want others to know that they aren't alone as I used to think that I was.

Migraines

Migraines and pain have taken over my life. Again. I have had migraines all my life and they come and go. This past week they have come again and invaded everything I do. Which isn't much when I have one. The pain makes me wish I something could be done at any cost but there seems to be little that the doctors can recommend for them. The normal meds for migraines don't seem to do me any good. Best I can do is find a very dark, very quiet place where I can coddle up in a soft, warm blanket with an icepack. When the bed doesn't work I resort to hiding in my small walk-in closet where I have a corner where I have placed several large pillows and blankets. Usually a couple of hours in there will take care of it. Sometimes. But this past week the headaches have continued off and on for days. Cluster headaches they are called. Any light and any sound makes it worst. I feel like a bomb is trying to go off in my head. The sides of my head, my checks will feel numb. My hands won't be able to grip things as well, and I won't be able to walk straight.Like I was drunk when I don't drink. I have threatened to take up drinking as then I will have an excuse for feeling this way. There is no way I can do housework, help with horses, or work on computer. Driving would be a deathwish.
I am hoping that maybe this time it is being brought on my the weather. We had terrible rain storms, and then it got first cool and then we went back to summer. Last night we had horrible wind all evening and night. And the temperatures have gone way down. And we had a full moon recently. I really think that the weather and the moon can effect the way a person feels especially if a person is prone to headaches to start with. The weather also seems to make the constant pain in my back, legs, and feet to get worse. According to the doctors the only thing I have is the start of some normal arthritis for a person my age. Although I have been told that I have scoliosis, which is a curved spine causing me not to be able to stand up straight, and deformed feet, mostly very large bunions. yEAH yeah bunions can be removed. And the left one has been about ten years ago, which just made my foot hurt worse. Now I get terrible cramps in my toes and it feels like someone is jamming an icepick through the top of my foot right behind my middle toe. Or how if feel that an ice pick jammed into my foot would feel. I can't wear womens shoes because of how wide my feet are and have to buy large boys or small mens shoes. Mostly slippers. Which means a lot of times I don't do much that requires walking.
Anyone that has bad headaches or migraines or any of these other problems I have has my full sympathy. And I do know several people who do have these problems so I know it isn't all in my head.

The Rain Came

The rain came sideways last Saturday. I don't think any of it came straight down as it should considering it comes from the sky. The winds were terrable and the rain was hard with a bit of hail mixed in. And again I say it came sideways or horizonal. The barn leaked, the yard was flooded. You would have thought we had a pond in the big horse pen, and in our back yard in the garden area. And the horses were drenched. They wouldn't stay in their shelters but I don't think the shelters were doing that much good considering that slanted rain. Then a block down the road from us someones big camptrailer must have been leaking as they were standing on it trying to put a tarpe on it. And that caused my bay quarter horse mare Nita to panic, even though it was almost a block away from us. Thankfully none of the other horses seemed to care about that, only the rain. Poor Nita, she just stood staring off toward the trailer, trimbling with fright and cold. I gave them an extra flake of hay to try to calm them and to help keep them warm. By the end of the day rain seemed to be gone.
But it froze my tomatoe vines that night. Not bad but enought that I knew it was only a matter of time until we have a hard freeze so we pulled all the green tomatoes and have them sitting around the house so they can rippen. hubby loves them but I have to force them down even though I know they are good for you. Any one know of anything to do with green tomatoes other than frying them?
Monday we dryed out a bit then today, Tuesday we had more rain, off of Hurricane Norbert. At least this came straight down instead of slanted. Have clear skies tonight which means it will be cold.
Moon is full and bright.

The Deer Hunt

This is something that my dad always had a copy of. I'm not sure where he got it or who actually wrote it. But it is cute and I have heard of so many hunting trips that ended up some what like this. It is hunting season so decided to post it. Those that hunt will laugh and those that oppose hunting will laugh.


The Deer Hunt

2:30 am Alarm clock rings
3:00 am Hunting partner arrives, drags you out of bed
3:15 am Throw everything except the kitchen sink in the truck
3:30 am Leave for deer woods
3:45 am Drive back home and pick up the gun
4:00 am Drive like hell to get to woods before daylight
5:15 am Set up camp, forgot the damn tent
5:45 am Head into the woods
6:05 am See 8 deer
6:06 am Take aim and squeeze trigger
6:07 am “Click”
6:08 am Load gun while watching deer go over hill
8:00 am Head back to camp
9:00 am Still looking for camp
10:00 am Realize you don’t know where camp is
Noon Fire gun for help --- eat wild berries
12:15 pm Run out of bullets – 8 deer go by
12:20 pm Strange feeling in stomach
12:30 pm Realize you ate poison berries
12: 45 pm Rescued !!!
12:55 pm Rushed to hospital to have stomach pumped
3:00 pm Arrive back at camp
3:30 pm Leave camp to kill deer
4:00 pm Return to camp for bullets
4:01 pm Load gun. Leave camp again
5:00 pm Empty gun on squirrel that’s bugging you
6:00 pm Arrive at camp. See deer grazing in camp
6:01 pm Load gun’6:02 pm Fire gun
6: 03 pm One dead pickup truck
6:05 pm Hunting partner returns to camp dragging deer
6:06 pm Repress the strong desire to shoot partner
6:07 pm Fall into fire
6:10 pm Change cloths – throw burned ones into fire
6:15 pm Take pickup – leave partner and his deer in woods
6:25 pm Pickup boils over – hole shot in block
6:26 pm Start walking
6:30 pm Stumble and fall – drop gun in mud
6:35 pm Meet bear
6:36 pm Take aim
6:37 pm Fire gun – blow up barrel – plugged with mud
6:38 pm Shit pants !!!
6:39 pm Climb tree
(:00 pm Bear departs – Wrap #### gun around tree
Midnight Home at last !!!

Sunday – Watch football game on TV, slowly tearing deer license into little pieces, place them into envelop and mail to Game Warden with very clear instructions on where to place them. !!!!

Freedom & Privacy

I have decided that I will vote for any politician that doesn't call me on my phone or knock on my door. I have solved the door knocking problem by having fenced my property, then having a 300 yard driveway with a locked gate and a "Beware of Dog" sign. The phone call are beginning to get to me. The best way to stop them seems to be by still having dial-up Internet connections. As long as I am on the Internet - no calls. But I can't be on 24 hours a day, and it seems that politicians and their helpers are calling day and night. If not in person then with the aide of recordings.
So - I repeat - I am voting for anyone that does not call and that will try to stop political surveys. The surveys are as bad as the politicians. And I know they won't stop even after the election.
Besides - it's none of anyone else's business who I plan to vote for and how I feel about any person running for office.
It was my understanding that the United States was a country all about "freedom". I don't feel that we have any freedom any more or any privacy.

Balloons

Winking Kitty

Wally

We chose a balloon at random to watch as it went up from the beginning as they unrolled out the balloon from it's bag onto a tarp, filled it with cold air, heated it with the propane burner, rose up into the air and then lifted off to fly away, or in this case maybe swim would be the better word. This is the first year that Wally has come to the Balloon Fiesta, so it was his first flight here. Maybe even his first flight in New Mexico. We learned from the card that was handed out by one of the crew members that he was from Wisconsin and had just been "born" this year.
Most balloons have a web site and many give out cards simular to baseball cards that have information about the balloon.

Bee Balloons

This is Lilly and Joey Bee. They hold hands when going up. Maybe with velcro.

Blue Dragon Balloon

One of my favorites of the special shapes.

Up Close

You can see the white truck and trailer which gives a good idea just how big hot air balloons are. Balloon crews use a pickup or SUV with a trailer to haul their balloon and gandola around. Once the balloon is up and away the truck tries to follow the balloon from the ground. Of couse they use cell phones and 2 way radios to help keep track of the balloon. Some balloon owners bring their own chase crew, as the people who follow the balloon are called but some don't and the Balloon Fiesta is always in need of people to work on the chase crews.

More Balloons

Balloons from many Countries

The International Balloon Fiesta is called that because they have many balloons come over from other countries to participate in the fiesta. This one was the only one I saw that I could really tell was from another country because I couldn't read the writing on it. I suppect Germany but I could be wrong.

Pink Elephant Balloon

Jug Balloon

Darth Vader Balloon

Church Balloon

Beer Mug Balloon

Crowded

I heard there were some 600 balloons registered for the fiesta. I have not heard exactly how many went up yesterday, nor how many people attended. I did hear that there were some 25,000 cars in the parking lot at some time during the morning.
The morning was perfect, but the afternoon turned into a sand storm with lots of wind, followed by a rain that kept the balloons from doing the evening balloon glow, and then a harder rain during the night, (we had 1 and a half inches in our rain gage) caused a cancellation in this mornings mass ascension. But I heard the this evening the balloon glow was supposed to go. So if you don't like crowds don't go.

Raise and Fly

First the balloon which is about 3 stories high when inflated is unrolled from the large bag it is kept in. Then several people hold the bottom open while cold air from a large fan is forced in. At the proper time a propane burner which is attached to the top of the basket that holds the balloonist under the balloon is used to heat the air in the balloon. As the balloon heats it raises until it standing straight up. The balloon crew holds it on the ground with ropes until it is told it can go by the balloon referees. In this photo you can see the baskets, called gondolas with people in them. Each balloon is piloted by a licensed balloon pilot. Most balloons are from the United States, but there are pilots and their balloons as crews that come from lots of other counties.

Early To Raise

Balloon people seem to take the idea of getting up before dawn to extremes. Early morning in the fall seems to be the best time to fly hot air balloons. So going to the balloon fiesta meant that my aunts and I got up at 4 am, drove to a designated parking lot in Rio Rancho where we caught a special bus that took us to the Balloon Park in Albuquerque. That was at 5 am. We arrived there while it was still dark and waited impatiently for the Dawn Patrol to take off, which they did about 6 am. The Dawn Patrol are the first few balloons that take off right before dawn to make sure it safe for the other balloons to fly. Sometimes it may seem safe on the ground but higher air currents can be a lot different. Balloons don't fly if it is raining, too windy, or snowing. But this day was perfect. No wind, rain, snow, and it wasn't even that cold. Balloonist don't understand the word cold. It seems the colder the better. By 7 all of the other approximately 600 balloons were preparing to fly.

Balloon Fiesta

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is in full swing, or should I say flying high. It is held every year in October. This year my two aunts, ages 80 and 78 came to visit us and other friends and relatives in New Mexico and wanted to go to the fiesta. I had not been for a number of years and decided it would be fun so off we went to see the balloons. On the weekends the balloons do what is called a mass ascension, and during the week they have different kinds of competitions. There is also, balloon glows on some evenings, and a special shape rodeo when the odd shaped balloons are featured. In this photos are mostly the normal or regular shaped balloons. Some are up and flying while others are just rising.